Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Heinemann Volume 1).pdf/474

 [shrugging his shoulders]. It is the law; to murmur is in vain. Moreover, at a moment such as this, When salary revision is in train, It is not well to advertise one's views Of office time's true function and right use. That's why I beg you to be silent; look, A word may forfeit my—                            Portfolio? Officially it's called a transcript book; A protocol's the clasp upon the veil of snow That shrouds the modest breast of the Bureau. What lies beneath you must not seek to know. And yet I only spoke at your desire; You hinted at your literary crop. How should I guess he'd grovel in the mire So deep, this parson perch'd on fortune's top, A man with snug appointments, children, wife, And money to defy the ills of life? If such a man prove such a Philistine, What shall of us poor copyists be said? Of me, who drive the quill and rule the line, A man engaged and shortly to be wed, With family in prospect—and so forth? [More vehemently.